Atlanta Legal Market
Market Overview
Top companies headquartered in Atlanta include Home Depot, United Parcel Service (UPS), Coca Cola, Delta Airlines, Southern Company, Daimler (the German car maker’s US headquarter relocated in 2017), SunTrust Bank, and AFLAC. Approximately 16 of the Fortune 500 companies have their headquarters in Atlanta, making it third in the nation (after New York City and Houston), with at least an additional 14 companies in the Fortune 1000 based in the metro region. (Some companies are based in Georgia, not specifically Atlanta, but most legal work is done out of the Atlanta law firms for these companies.) Atlanta also houses a securities exchange, Intercontinental Exchange, and a consumer financial transaction technology company, NCR Corporation, which drives some of the data privacy and technology transactions law in Atlanta.
Five Atlanta-based firms are on the Am Law 100 list: King & Spalding (#22), Alston & Bird (#52), Troutman Sanders (#68), Ogletree Deakins (#73), and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton (#78). Thirty-one of the AmLaw 100 firms have offices in Atlanta.
Practice Area Overview
What’s Hot?
- Corporate (M&A, Banking, Securities, Finance)
- Technology Transactions
- Health Care
What’s Stable?
- Labor & Employment
- IP (Patent Prosecution)
- Privacy
- Real Estate
What’s Cold?
- Commercial Litigation
- IP Litigation
Recruiting Outlook
Ties to Georgia, or at least the Southeast, are highly preferred. Connections to Georgia or other southern schools may be preferred at some firms.
Atlanta Market Resources
Check out the links below for more information regarding the Atlanta legal market, networking opportunities, and job listings.